4 more reviews

1. ›Detroit: The racial discrimination described by great movie filmed in 2017@serialfiller2209d

   

   

   

   In the last few weeks, the covid-19 emergency has taken a back seat, at least in the United States. The brutal murder of George Floyd, perpetrated by the Minneapolis police, ignited the protest of the African American people, who have always been persecuted by the police and white people. On Netflix have depopulated films and TV series capable of addressing the racial issue. Among them, what seems to be perfect to describe the current tensions is without doubt: # DETROIT

   Oscar-winning director, Kathryn Bigelow, has signed a film that is more real and powerful than the reality itself that she tried to tell. 1967, Detroit. Protests against police abuse ignite. The umpteenth violence against the African-American community in the capital of Michigan becomes the fuse that begins to burn until the protest explodes. Shops looted, windows broken, vandalism. Everything is repressed with other violence, not of equal and contrary force but disproportionate. Broken shop windows are answered with blood, screams with bullets, discrimination with death. The narrative expands on the whole racial struggle, the racial issue and then narrows on the massacre of the Algeris motel and then becomes again a broad narrative that touches all the African-American people, all the American people, all the human race. What is shown to us is so inhuman that it takes on the connotations of a horror film. And a horror film, with thriller veins, is actually spoken about, especially in the central part of the film, with the not inconsiderable emphasis that what is shown to us is reality. The reality of that bloody evening of 1967, when 3 policemen decide to beat the shit out of a group of African Americans accusing them of having fired a shotgun at the police. Shot never fired, gun never found. It was just a pretext, for those homophobic, racist, deviant minds to give vent to their barbaric instincts. It was at the expense of three young boys who had two things in common:

   The color of their skin

   A future ahead

   For those cops, the two things were not compatible. If you're black, you don't deserve to exist, so you're a dead man. All they needed was an excuse. Those fights, those rapes, they were the perfect time, the perfect storm, to rage against the hated blacks.

   "Detroit" is a wonderful film, perfect, because it is current, very current, even though it was shot 3 years ago and set in 1967.

   The distance in time makes us realize how unchanged the problem is. In the film, a congressman, to calm the crowd, says:

   "The change is coming.

   53 years later, we're still seeing cops killing African-Americans. 53 years later, the president of the United States of America is perhaps the most racist, whatever, misogynistic president history has known.

   Has the change really come?

   

   

   Nelle ultime settimane, l'emergenza covid-19 è finita in secondo piano, almeno negli Stati Uniti. Il brutale assassinio di George Floyd, perpretrato dalla polizia di Minneapolis ha fatto accendere la protesta del popolo afroamericano, da sempre perseguitato dalla polizia e dal popolo bianco. Su Netflix hanno spopolato film e serie tv capaci di affrontare il tema razziale. Tra questi, quello che sembra essere perfetto per descrivere le tensioni attuali è senza dubbio:

   DETROIT

   La regista premio Oscar, Kathryn Bigelow, ha firmato un film più vero e potente della realtà stessa che ha provato a raccontare. 1967, Detroit. Le proteste contro gli abusi della polizia si infiammano. L'ennesima violenza ai danni della comunità afroamericana della capitale del Michigan, diventa la miccia che inizia a bruciare fino a far esplodere la protesta. Negozi saccheggiati, vetrine rotte, atti vandalici. Il tutto viene represso con altra violenza, di forza non uguale e contraria ma sproporzionata. Alle vetrine rotte si risponde col sangue, alle urla con pallottolle, alla discriminazione con la morte. Il racconto si amplia su tutta la lotta razziale, la questione razziale per poi restringersi sul massacro del motel Algeris e per poi divenire ancora un racconto ampio che tocca tutto il popolo afroamericano, tutto il popolo americano, tutto il genere umano. Quello che ci viene mostrato è talmente disumano da assumere i connotati di un film horror. Ed un film horror, con venature thriller si parla in effetti, soprattutto nella parte centrale del film, con la non trascurabile sottolineatura che quella che ci viene mostrata è la realtà. La realtà di quella serata cruenta del 1967, quando 3 poliziotti decidono di massacrare di botte un gruppo di afroamericani accusandoli di aver sparato un colpo di fucile verso la polizia. Colpo mai sparato, arma mai trovata. Era solo un pretesto, per quelle menti omofobe, razziste, deviate per poter dare sfogo ai propri barbari istinti. A farne le spese furono 3 giovani ragazzi che avevano 2 cose in comune:

   Il colore della pelle

   Un futuro davanti

   Per quei poliziotti le 2 cose non erano conciliabili. Se sei nero non meriti di esistere e dunque sei un uomo morto. A loro, serviva solo una scusa. Quegli scontri, quelle violenze, furono il perfetto momento, la tempesta perfetta, per scatenarsi contro gli odiati neri.

   "Detroit" è un film meraviglioso, perfetto, proprio perchè attuale, attualissimo, nonostante sia stato girato 3 anni fa e sia ambientato nel 1967.

   La lontananza temporale ci fa capire quanto sia immutato il problema. Nel film un deputato, per calmare la folla, dice:

   Il cambiamento sta arrivando

   53 anni dopo, assistiamo ancora a poliziotti che ammazzano afroamericani. 53 anni dopo il presidente degli Stati Uniti D'America è forse il più razzista, qualunquista, misogino presidente che la storia abbia conosciuto.

   Il cambiamento è davvero arrivato?

   

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2. ›Review Film: Detroit (2017)@film-trail2996d

   

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   After The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, director Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal re-collaborate, this time describing the cruel racism of the police against blacks and the injustices they received in law enforcement. Bigelow and Boal chose to eliminate the complexity of racial issues, thoroughly trying to shake the viewers' feelings through violent images of humanity, leading to a movie thriller in the majority of the time. Detroit existed (solely) to provoke the audience's anger, not the clever way, but effectively fuel the hatred of racism, Lifted the Algiers Motel incident that occurred simultaneously with the five-day unrest in Detroit in 1967 that killed 43 people, 1,189 wounded, 7,200 people arrested, and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed, Detroit divided into three flow points: pre, during, the aftermath. Entering the first act, similar to what Nolan did through Dunkirk, Boal's script immediately brought the audience into the middle of a riot by police raids on unlicensed bars. Despite a few minutes of animation as background explanation, once the core conflict-hit, we were immediately dragged into the center of the event in the form of looting by the citizens ending the dispute with the apparatus.

   The absence of a protagonist in the early stages was an effort to support Bigelow's docudrama style in order to create real chaos. But when randomness is unfocused, though some grip situations call when the stray bullet takes the life of a child, it takes time to be bound by his story. Focusing on specific details or figures is required as a grip as well as a goal director. Entering the middle, so Phillip Krauss (Will Poulter with a totality that allows his character to be hated), racist policemen who are not shy about blacks and Larry Reed (Algee Smith armed with a golden voice of heart touch) the singer with the dream of getting a recording contract introduced, into the second half of a series of repugnant violence.

   Detroit's middle half when Phillip and his colleagues aligned the blacks of the Algiers Motel dwellers plus two white women were gripping. Bigelow and Boal abandoned subtopics, exposing even the emotion through violent violence that, although leading to exploitation, successfully summarized the various humanitarian toxicity from white supremacy, toxic masculinity, to the mixing of both. Once again not a smart way, but effective. Any threats, coercion, violence that the authorities do useful stack up inadvertently over such actions. The final blow is posted in the third act as the setting moves to trial, which seals the fate of the minority at the nadir, Indeed Detroit is based on a true story, but as written at the end, the lack of official historical records forces Boal to add many portions of fiction that often serve to dramatize. As a result, the question arises about how factual Detroit. Although not all the moments really happened in the original incident, it is not a big problem considering in other places and times, even with different racial contexts, (including in Indonesia) similar issues also occur. Finally, if invalidate their pre-event, Detroit is still a relevant picture of racial conflict widely.

   The big drawback of the film is the simplification that shows Bigelow's confusion and Boal takes a stand. Both expressly declare that the vigilante action of the security apparatus is a great sin. On the other hand, it appears that the riots began with the anarchy of Detroit residents looting the shops, destroying their own city as an outburst of anger. Similarly, Carl Cooper's (Jason Mitchell) unnecessary action fired empty shells at the police who triggered the tragedy. We are invited to see the two parties are both playing the role of encouraging disputes, but like wanting to avoid controversy, Detroit is reluctant to explore the complexity, choose to play in safe lines. Secure routes that are at least potent to provoke resentment over racism. 

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   RATING (7,4/10)

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3. ›Detroit (2017) - Movie Review@coldsteem3243d

   

   I grew up in Detroit. I grew up in a house ten miles from the Algiers Motel. I grew up in Detroit in the aftermath of the riots. So I have been patiently waiting for the film Detroit to hit theaters. Growing up in Detroit, the riots were never far from our minds. Ten years after the riots (which were in 1967), we were still talking about it. We were still licking wounds. The scars were as physical as emotional, as burned out buildings stood as stalwart reminders of the turbulence. We escaped to the near suburbs of Detroit when I was fourteen. But I carry with me a love for Detroit that is hard to explain to outsiders. Even though, in many ways, I was an outsider myself during those tense years.

   

   I try to avoid reviews (particularly spoiler laden reviews) before I see a film. But I often read about any drama surrounding the film itself. In this case, I read one article that discussed Kathryn Bigelow as the director. Some noise was generated around her being a white director taking on a sensitive black topic. Or something along those lines. I have really enjoyed her work, particularly Zero Dark Thirty which had criticism of its own. My favorite film of hers was Hurt Locker which seems to be the film that catapulted Jeremy Renner's career (deservedly so). Based on her body of work, I had little concern going into this film.

   

   Detroit is not an examination of the circumstances that led to rioting in many cities across America during the late 1960s, although a quick storyboard primer is offered at the outset of the film. Instead, the broader issues are condensed to events that transpired at a Detroit hotel, the Algiers Motel, in the midst of rioting. It examines tension between police and the community that led to the deaths of three teenagers at the hands of police. The film reconstructs events based on witness testimony, evidence and reporting from that time period. It offers a perspective of what happened, but is left to fill in the details based on conjecture. What actually happened that night remains uncertain. Although police excess is not one of those uncertainties.

   

   The film features some familiar faces and a few that I did not recognize. You may recognize John Boyega from Star Wars among other films. Boyega stars as a security guard who unwittingly finds himself complicit in the murders. Will Poulter offers up an interesting antagonist as a corrupt police officer. I am not a fan of his work, but recognize him from The Revenant. Jason Mitchell, who cracked me up in Keanu, is the instigator in Detroit. I love Kaitlyn Dever in the television series Last Man Standing. She plays witness to the events as a (prostitute?) who is staying at the hotel when the police become unhinged. The most recognizable face in the film is Antony Mackie, who seems to be in everything lately. There were many others, but no performances stood out to me. With a cast like that, this film should have been a lot tighter.

   

   I think my problem with this film is Kathryn Bigelow. I hate to say it. It's not because of any racial disconnect. It is an artistic disconnect. Overall, the story was decent. A lot of research went into recreating events. But there were a lot of distractions for me. First of all, for a linear story, this one seemed disjointed at times. Choppy. A 143 minute film should be anything but choppy. The camera work was distracting at times, too. You shouldn't be thinking about the camera when you are watching a movie. The first person perspective of the camera was abrupt at times. I did not like the effect at all. It wasn't always noticeable. But when it was, I got irritated. More than once.

   The characters were okay, given that there were a lot of characters that needed some depth. There was some depth achieved. The scene that captures the crux of the story was unnecessarily elongated. It was exhausting. She may say she did that on purpose. I don't care, it was overdone. She could have cut ten minutes or more from this film and no one would know the difference. Lastly, the dialogue was a bit stilted at times. It was okay on the whole. But there was awkward phrasing at times. Maybe even forced.

   

   With that summary, you might think I would give this film a thumbs down. I don't. The broader story is good. It is based on true events. And it stayed as close to the story as possible, given the circumstances. I also liked that Bigelow tied the story up at the end with something promising. She gave us a reward. The church is often a cultural hub that offers hope. The film gives us an amazing gospel vocal as it nears the end. The vocal coming from one of the characters impacted by the events, finding his solace (maybe even renewal) in a small local church. This is truth. From the actual events as well as life in general. It may have been an allegory for healing, which maybe we still need. It was subtle, but it was a hopeful way to end a dark story. A small piece of redemption. For the characters as well as the audience. In retrospect, the nuisances of this film balance against a good story that was often tense and ultimately rewarding. I would give Detroit a respectable 7/10. You can wait for it on video and not miss anything important.

   Photos and video courtesy of Annapurna Pictures.

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4. ›Detroit Trailer # 2 (2017)@movietrailers3300d

   A police raid in Detroit in 1967 results in one of the largest citizen uprisings in the United States’ history.

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